Mass evacuation orders as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton

TAMPA BAY: Florida, still reeling from the damage done by Hurricane Helene, braced for another major storm, Hurricane Milton, prompting mass evacuation orders on Sunday.

Hurricane Milton forced the largest state evacuation order since 2017, with over 500,000 people ordered to evacuate.

“The entire peninsula, the entire west coast, has the potential to have major, major impact because of the storm surge,” said Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

Fifty-one countries across the state are under a state of emergency. Educational institutions and local government offices have also begun to announce closures starting Monday.

Hurricane Helene leaves at least 69 dead in US

The director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Gurthie, stated that those living in areas with more than 2 feet of storm surge should “seriously consider evacuation.” He urged citizens to make the decision early and begin evacuating.

The storm is expected to become a category 3 hurricane before making landfall on Wednesday. The storm currently has winds of 85 mph, and could increase to a category 4 or 5 by the time it reaches Tampa Bay, in what may be one of the worst storms the city has seen.

“It is possible that it will exceed what you saw with Hurricane Helene,” said DeSantis.

As early as last Monday, over 1.7 million homes and business were still without power in Florida. Governor DeSantis warned that residents could potentially experience more power outages from Milton, than they did with Helene.

Over 1.7m US customers still without power from Hurricane Helene